Finding my way to Love

Play-off Game and After Party

I let out a long, exaggerated sigh. "Soooo...is this thing almost over? I'm ready to not be bored anymore."

They all rolled their eyes, but Mikey answered. "Yes, dork, it's almost over."

The crowd started cheering so we stood up and played along. The scoreboard showed a final score of 30-20. We made our way to the gate to meet the team for congratulations cheering before leaving.

KJ stopped by us, grinning from ear to ear. "How awesome was that! I can't believe we just beat them."

I laughed but let him have his moment. "You guys were great. Congratulations."

"Thanks Izzy. You're still going later, right?"

"Of course." I smiled and waved him off. When he was out of ear shot I turned to grab Scars arm and squealed. We giggled and gossiped more.

I could hear the eye roll Mikey gave us. "Girls..." Jesse laughed at us.

This party was different than last week. Last week was a big event, the whole school was invited to this one party. This party was different, smaller. Still a lot of people, but only a fraction in comparison. There were only juniors and seniors, and most of them were on the football team and the cheer squad. A few of the school stoners were there too.

Noah played host again. Since there wasn't as many people it was easier to move around. There was a circle-ish shape formed around the furniture in the living room. One of the cool-not-cool kids was standing on the coffee table in the center while telling the story of our winning touchdown...two hours ago. It felt weird to be in a room with this many people that I hardly really know.

I lost my group at the circle. KJ was in the middle of making a drink when I walked in the kitchen. I walked over and leaned on the counter across from him. "Make enough for two?"

He smiled his signature smile and grabbed a second cup. "Always enough for you, Izzy."

"Thanks." I grabbed a couple shot glasses and poured some fireball. I made mine a cinnamon toast crunch and handed his to him straight. "A shot to start the night?"

He grinned and we traded a shot for a drink. "Cheers to a good game and better night." We both laughed and made the toast.

"Yo, sis. Are you coming or what?" I glanced at the door and nodded.

KJ wrapped an arm around my shoulder and led me to the living room. Scar slid onto Jesses lap to make room for us on the couch. Mikey resumed his position on the armrest. I looked around the room. The not-cool kid had been booed off the stage, he was attempting to make it up by laughing at other peoples' conversations. There were a few girls already getting flirty with someone. In the corner of the room there was a serious make-out session going down. Mikey had this junior girl hung on him while he tried to talk to someone, I suppressed a laugh at the sight. There were a few people dancing. One of the popular girls had a guy dancing behind her, but she seemed to be distracted. Her distraction was sipping from a red solo cup.

KJ's friend, Carter, was sitting on the coffee table across from us. I listened to them talk about football and their trips to various haunted houses and mazes. I was paying attention to Mikey's conversation too. Poor guy.. I smiled at his struggle.

It didn't take long before some girl sat herself down beside Carter. I didn't recognize her from school. "Hi! I'm Kelly, I go to school over in the next town. My family is moving here in a few weeks though." She held her hand out to shake mine.

"Hi, I'm Izzy." I was polite, but still quiet. It takes me a while before I can socialize with new people.

"Have you known the guys long? I haven't seen you at a party before." Kelly kept a peppy smile on her face the whole time.

"Oh, yeah. I actually can't remember not knowing them, or at least knowing of them. We go to school together. Last week was the first party I was ever dragged to, I'm not a party girl."

"Hmm. Yeah, you don't look like you get out too much. I'm the opposite. I'm an only child so I find fun anywhere but home alone." Kelly seemed like she didn't have any barriers, or a filter. This is gonna be a long ass night. I polished off my first drink as she went on about being an only child.

Scar kindly interrupted before I told Kelly how interested I wasn't about her childhood. "My song is on Iz, we need to dance! Then get refills apparently, lets go!" She grabbed my hand and dragged me away, I heard certain boys laugh at me ragdoll-like state.

We hit the dance floor and let loose. I didn't realize Kelly was with us until I turned around. Hey, at least she stopped talking. Scar and I sang along and laughed at ourselves. We stayed on the floor for a while, Kelly started singing with us and laughing.

The DJ got on the mic and called out to the crowd. "Ladies, I think its time to show us how you shake that!" Shake That started playing and everyone came to the floor to dance. KJ, Carter, and Jesse joined our little circle with more drinks.

The night went on with more dancing and more booze. I lost count of my drinks after six. Every time KJ got a little close or touched me, my body caught fire. Scar was a pair of shorts away from sleeping with Jesse right on the dance floor. I lost Mike four songs ago.

I felt KJ's hands wrap around my waist. "Let's go somewhere quieter, huh?" He moved my hair and kissed my neck. I practically melted in his hands, I couldn't nod fast enough. I felt his chuckle vibrate against my neck. One more kiss and he led me through the crowd to the stairs.

My thoughts were filled with the all the naughty things I wanted when we ran into Mike. Well, Mike actually ran into KJ and I just stumbled a bit. I looked up in time to see Mikes face change. From the annoyance of the collision, to the confusion of me being with KJ, and then to the anger of me going upstairs with him.

Mikes nostrils flares with anger. He shoved a finger at KJ, "we are far from finished Kaden. I'm taking you home Izzy, come on." He grabbed my hand from KJs and walked me to the car. He didn't look at me until we sat in the car.

"Mikey why are you so mad at me? I didn't do anything."

"He has a history Isabella. If he didn't, if you weren't drunk, I wouldn't be mad. You know better than to go with someone when there are influences involved." He took a deep breath and buckled his belt. "You're too drunk to remember much of this and I'm too angry to talk about this right now."

He stewed in his anger the whole drive home. I don't know how fast he was going but it was giving me the spins. When we made it home Mikey carried me to my bed. He set my shoes at the end my bed and covered me with my blanket. "We'll talk tomorrow. I love you Izzy." He kissed my forehead and turned off my lamp.